It turned out amazingly well. I was impressed at how easy it could get and the enemy didn't seem to manifest the weird "hunt them down" mode your allies use.

However, I didn't find that stealth helps very overall, since to maintain a decent stealth level you must sacrifice sensors, engines, and repair. Or maybe I'm using to much. Anyone have some advice? I put like 6-8 stealth on my ship.

You're absolutely right: The only way I've found to add acceptable stealth onto my ships is with almost no radar. My best stealth fighter (I named it the Ninja) has 11 stealth on it. It helps enormously to have these guys on your wing, because if you have a non-stealth ship with good repair, you can just run around dodging missiles while your friends take care of the killing. My Ninja wingmen performed amazingly well against Warriors and Nightmares, and they only cost 211 credits:

I flew these ships almost exclusively as soon as I could afford them. I now have a wing of 3 ninjas plus observers, I'm on mission 113, and I've not had to eject for about 25 missions straight. They've got staying power. (Repair bots don't work well with them, because the chances of them repairing something other than stealth isn't good. Who needs stealth when your engines are out?)

Stealth, in my opinion, is really just a better alternative to shields. More stealth means less missiles thrown your way. Less rear shielding drives down costs dramatically. Up the stealth, lose some radars and shields, and just buy a few observers now and then.

"Stupid people exist to give smart people something fun to do." ~Me
"Those who can constantly quote others aren't necessarily well-read. Maybe they simply have no ideas of their own." ~Me

I use all stealthy ships on all missions and I get Gold Crosses whenever there are enough ships to kill. I get further using than I do with any other configuration. I used to like well sheilded ships but they simply get hit too much. I survived to mission 120 using my various stealth designs. I only died because my wingmen plowed me with 6 plectrons and 2 daycorns. Even on defend missions, they are great. The enemy never gets to my objective unless its ridiculously close to the enemy and they get to it before I do.

My primary stealth ship costs 114 creds and it has 4 forward radar so I often see the enemy long before they see me. You have to fly a stealth ship differently than you would fly a normal one, but once you get the deesign right and the hang of avoiding detection, they are nearly unstopable

I guess I'm just used to using power ships, big tank-like things with massive armor. I've done best with them, and they're very hard to kill once you can buy things costing at least 150-200 credits. I prefer this because that way I can't be killed by a few stray missiles or a little friendly fire. Concentrated fire is another matter (once my allies hit me with 8 Daycorns and a Plectron in one turn...) , but not nearly as common.

I like stealth more than any other component. I also fly my stealth ship designs with 3-4 scanners forward, and 2 on each remaining side. Doing so allows me to not only see the enemy, but manouver around and behind them as well, for optimum shots. I can't tell you how many times I have been travelling full speed and lined up perfectly behind a large, slow moving enemy ship. Two or three plecs and it's easy pickings. the downside is lack of heavy armor, but good situational awareness, strategy and piloting skills can make up for the lack of protection (usually).

My starting stealth design uses 114 credits and has 14 stealths if I remember correctly. I have actuallt ran into ships without them ever knowing I was there! My biggest enemies are the Watcher, Anaconda, and pretty much any ghost class ship. Im glad someone agrees with the stealth advantage.